They’re not the only two in the MVP race, and a lot can happen in the final couple of weeks.

But after Yelich hit for his second cycle Monday night at Miller Park to continue his sizzling second-half, the Brewers star may have caught, or even surpassed Baez in the minds of many voters of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Few would have picked either player to be in this position before the season began. Yet here they are, and both are coming up big when it matters most, helping to carry their respective teams down the stretch.

Like Baez, Yelich prefers to ignore the MVP talk, though it was impossible to do so after he became the fifth player in history to hit for the cycle (single, double, triple and home run) twice in a season. Only two of the previous four players have done it since the dawn of 20th century — Babe Herman (1931) and Aaron Hill (2012).

“Honestly it’s kind of crazy,” Yelich said Tuesday before the Brewers faced the Reds at Miller Park. “It’s kind of hard to describe. I think it was one of those things you’ll appreciate more after the season. Maybe Nov. 7, you’ll reflect back on 2018 after I digest everything that has happened.

“But once you’re going through it, everything happens so fast in a season, so it’s hard to sink in. I try to enjoy it as much as possible. It was a cool moment in the stadium. But we have bigger team goals, so that keeps things in perspective.”

The race for the playoffs takes precedence, of course. The Brewers trailed the Cubs by 2½ games in the NL Central before Tuesday’s games and had a three-game lead over the Cardinals for the first wild-card spot. Their magic number for clinching the fifth postseason appearance in club history was nine.

That’s why Yelich isn’t thinking about the MVP race.

“We have so much going on as a team and every game is so important that it makes it a lot easier to focus on what we have to do every night to win a game,” he said. “You’re able to separate the two.

“Obviously you hear the talk, you hear the noise, you hear the fans (chanting ‘MVP.’). And the media is here as well. But you understand that that’s all part of it.

“It’s an honor to be in that conversation, but it really is up to you guys. We don’t have a lot of say in it. All we can control is what we do on the field and what we can contribute to the team every night. The rest is left up to you guys to debate and sort out.”

Photos of Cubs infielder Javier Baez.

It’s a great debate, and in the end it may be determined by what criteria the individual voters value most.

Baez had the most RBIs in the league Tuesday with 105, along with 32 home runs, nine triples, 37 doubles and 21 steals.

Yelich entered Tuesday’s game hitting .357 over his last 62 games, leaving him percentage points behind Scooter Gennett in the NL batting race, .3181 to .3177. He also led the NL in OPS (.955) and slugging percentage (.570) and had 31 home runs, 93 RBIs and 19 stolen bases.

“He’s doing special things,” manager Craig Counsell said. “This is what guys in this (MVP race) do. They do special things throughout the year and especially this time of year. The players everyone is talking about are obviously all deserving, and Christian is doing his thing for our team, for sure.”

So which numbers are most important in an MVP race?

“I’m not into that, man,” Counsell said. “You guys vote for it, so you can figure it out. I think the basic numbers still tell you something here, and the impact (he has had) and the fact we’re talking about a guy like this. … It’s easy to me to pick the guys out.”

Baez has plenty of intangibles, of course, notably his defense, baserunning and even his savage tagging skills. Yelich has speed as well, and has played all three outfield positions.

“I don’t know if there is a metric for versatility, but it is incredibly valuable,” Counsell said. “For Christian and a guy like Baez, guys playing multiple positions, it’s really valuable for a team. Where that falls in the MVP discussion, I’m not sure.”

Yelich, 26, was always a solid hitter in Miami, but his previous home run high was 21 in 2016. He has taken it to another level since the Brewers acquired him last winter, as general manager David Stearns felt he eventually would as Yelich evolved as a player.

“We didn’t know exactly how quickly it was going to come, but it has come quickly,” Stearns said. “The nice thing about it is it has really happened organically. He has been a player who has gotten better incrementally throughout the course of his career, and a player who has learned a lot about himself and is unafraid to take those next steps forward.”

Yelich and Baez have developed into superstars at the same time, and were NL teammates in the All-Star Game in Washington in July. While Yelich doesn’t know Baez well, he’s an admirer of his all-around game and style.

“He’s a great player,” he said. “It’s pretty well documented what he can do on a baseball field. We’ve played them 19 or 20 times this year so we’re all really familiar with each other and how everybody plays the game.

“He has had a great year and the Cubs have had a great year, and it has been a lot of fun just competing and going at it.”